The End Of An Odyssey

In September 2016 I decided to listen to all my vinyl albums. To keep track it made sense to listen to them in alphabetical order by artist, followed by soundtracks and compilations.

I could still listen to new purchases in between these albums and could listen to something out of order if the mood took me but on the whole I stuck to the plan.

It's been a long journey, but here I finally am in May 2020 listening to the final album - Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled.

Choosing what to listen to next might be a challenge.

Impact Music #20: Haunted Dancehall

Haunted Dancehall by The Sabres of Paradise

Finally, the last one and suddenly I've found myself with another ten albums I want to share, but I think I'll stop....for now. At the end of the day, every album I own has made an impact, however small. I've just shared twenty of them, not necessarily the top twenty and many of them not even my favourite by that artist.

So, Sabres of Paradise. I've never been a big dancer, but I did enjoy going to clubs and would often lose myself in the music whilst everyone else hit the dancefloor.

That's why albums like this really resonated with me, when the dance bands that I loved stretched out, slowed it down and made music for listening to. Orbital's Snivilisation was another big one for me and Leftfield struck a great balance on Leftism too.

This one thought is just sublime - an incredibly atmospheric electronic album with moments of beauty and hidden dark corners. Or is that moments of darkness and hidden beautiful corners? I'm not alone in saying that Andrew Weatherall is still sorely missed.

Impact Music #19: Mogwai Young Team

Mogwai Young Team by Mogwai

Post rock eh? What is it?

It was a toss up between this and Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise with which one to share. I've already changed my mind three times.

Tortoise was the first post rock album I got and is one of my favourite albums. I do, however have more records that fall into the "sounds like Mogwai" category than most bands. Some of them sound more like Mogwai than Mogwai do. Anyway, this is a slightly disjointed album compared to what came next, but it has two of the biggest tunes ever, the incredibly heavy Like Herod and the template for the future of post rock that is Mogwai Fear Satan. That's 25 minutes of your life right there.

As a side note, Mogwai Fear Satan had one of the greatest remixes ever, courtesy of Surgeon, which takes the definition of music to another sublime level at zero BMP.

Impact Music #18: Doolittle

Doolittle by Pixies

I loved the Chart Show. Surely EVERYONE loved the Chart Show. Not only did you get the main charts, but you also got the video vault and a peek at the dance, rock and indie charts. Indie was the most exciting of the three, each week throwing a new (to many) band out there with a low budget, high entertainment video. That's where I first met Pixies. 

A lot of people will claim Surfer Rosa is THE Pixies album, but Doolittle has the better pop tunes on it - incredibly weird and inventive pop tunes admittedly. It starts with Debaser, which should be enough to win most "best album" arguments and it is one of those albums where you're enjoying a song whilst also getting excited about the next song.

PS Hands up who still sometimes calls them "The Pixies"? There's always a temptation to make them the definitive article. Which they are.

Impact Music #17: The Faust Tapes

The Faust Tapes by Faust

The first Krautrock album I bought.

Forget your Kraftwerk - I didn't know what Krautrock was when I got into them - this is where it sort of started for me. Back in the days where you had to rely on recommendations for music when there was no other way of hearing it, this could've easily ended up being the worst purchase I've ever made.

Even if their sound isn't as recognisable as the ubiquitous sound of Kraftwerk/Can/Neu! in today's music, Faust were the ultimate Krautrock band - totally rejecting everything that went before them and totally uncompromising.

This wasn't supposed to be a proper album, it's a collage of sounds (moaning, power tools, someone going to the toilet), songs and improvisations that they put together and sold for the price of a single. It sold 50,000 copies in the UK and I suspect plenty of those copies were thrown away. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds apparently used his as a frisbee. It may not be a particularly easy listen, but it is massively entertaining and the few songs that are on it are stunning. After this all other Krautrock I heard sounded accessible.

It's also one of my favourite sleeves so I've included photos of both sides.

Impact Music #16: Queen Of Denmark

Queen of Denmark by John Grant

My next door neighbour lent this album to me shortly after it came out. He decided that I MUST hear it. 

Queen of Denmark could easily be dismissed as an Elton John pastiche until you notice the voice - the aural equivalent of caramel, albeit a bitter caramel that had had its heart broken too many times. Then there was the words, which are fantastic. He didn't hold anything back and displayed a level of honesty that is lacking in most songs - the most angry, sad, resentful and yet funny and hopelessly romantic lyrics I've heard.

I listened to this earlier today whilst trying to read. I had to put the book down and give the album my full attention, realiaing that I can never do anything but listen to this album when I play it. His voice and words are too much to be ignored.

Impact Music #15: The Soft Bulletin

The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips

Another one of those records that still gives me that first-listen buzz whenever I put it on and is - hyperbole alert! - arguably the last great album of the 20th century, with songs that make you want to cry with joy at how beautiful and sad and uplifting it all is.

I bought it based purely on the reviews it got, with many claiming this was a game changing album. Turns out they were right, this sounded like a NEW music.nIt doesn't really sound like anything that went before it, but a lot of bands have tried to sound like it since.

Impact Music #14: Purple Rain

Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

I had some money saved to buy an album and  fancied getting something a bit different, but I was still in two minds about buying this album. I was so far removed from anything else iny collection and although I quite liked what I'd heard of Prince, would I like a whole album that wasn't synthpop or new wave played by white Brits? I was worried I might enjoy it for a few plays and then go back to my old records. A leap into the unknown.

Then I got it home and gave it a listen and was blown away. It rocked. it had ballads. It had soul and funk and genres I never knew existed. It even had a hint of synthpop and new wave and lyrics like I'd never heard before, which meant I'd not be playing it with my mum in the room.

The album felt daring and edgy and not what I should be listening to at all. It was truly remarkable and kicked down the door for me to fearlessly buy and listen to so many different types of music over the coming years.

Impact Music #13: The Kick Inside

The Kick Inside by Kate Bush

My parents didn't have the best record collection for me to discover, so I generally had to cut my own path (look how well that went!). But there were still a small selection of albums that became part of my life. This was one. I really didn't like Kate Bush at first, but I picked this out and stared giving it a listen when I was a teen and ready for it. I've never looked back.

Impact Music #12: Fear Of Music

Fear of Music by Talking Heads

Difficult one to photograph due to its shiny sleeve.

I first heard this in London in 1985, staying at a friend's relatives house They also had My Life In The Bush of Ghosts and Music For Knee Plays, which intrigued, but this was the one with the unique songs and sound.

Shortly after I nearly fell out with my chemistry teacher over this album. Trying to impress him and show off I told him I'd heard it and really liked it, but he said it was a disappointment and their worst album. He didn't like the songs or sound. At the end of the day I was still happy to have to have someone else to talk about different music (even if we disagreed, he was still interested) and the realisation that adults can occasionally border on being cool.

Impact Music #11: Substance

Substance by New Order

Another iconic "best of" album, and a double cassette of their singles (in their 12" form) and B-Sides. It works so well because (a) most of the songs never appeared on an album, so it all sounds so fresh and (b) the ones that do are presented in their far superior versions (hello Bizarre Love Triangle). This was another of those albums that got played on repeat. I'll even forgive them the rerecording of a couple of tracks as *whispers* the version of Temptation is better than the original.

Most significantly, the opening notes of Ceremony are still my go to place whenever I pick up a guitar or bass.

Impact Music #10: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles

"But *insert other Beatles album*is much better".

An obvious record, but it's obvious for a reason. I could have easily chosen a so called "cooler" Beatles album, but why pretend?  This is the one that had the biggest impact on me.

I started listening to this about a year before the 20th anniversary in 1987. The BBC devoted a lot of airtime to the album for it's anniversary - the backstory, how it was recorded and the impact that it had on music and culture. Very soon I knew the album inside out and I could pinpoint every instrument, lyric, effect, tape loop and squeaking chair. I was amazed that pop music could be so experimental.

Most surprising was to discover that the tape I had was clearly recorded on a tape deck that was slightly slower than mine, so when I heard radio one playing the album I realised that I had been listening to a sped up version of the album for the last couple of years.

Impact Music #9: Shhh

Shhh by Chumbawamba

I was fairly apolitical at university, but then I started paying attention to the world around me. 

Chumbawamba took things to extremes with their occasionally clumsy anarchistic approach to the world, but they at least pushed me in the right direction and taught me how to get angry with society's injustices. This album was as all about censorship, after their intended album Jesus H Christ was pulled from release due to sample clearance issues. Influenced by The Pet Shop Boys as much as by Crass, they wrapped the politics in some great pop tunes and threw a load of samples into the mix. Their albums always came with essential and educational sleeve notes and the tour on the back of this album produced one of the best gigs I've ever seen.

Impact Music #8: Rage In Eden

Rage in Eden by Ultravox.

Not only was this my main introduction to Ultravox, but it also introduced me to the sleeve designs of Peter Saville and the production of Conny Plank.

I got it as part of an introductory offer to an album club that resulted in me (or often my mum bailing me out) having to then buy at least one overly priced album a month for a year. Not the best financial decision I've made but I'd gladly pay all that money to hear this album again for the first time.

It was pop music apparently, but it wasn't very poppy - it seemed quite sophisticated, being recorded in Köln (not Cologne) and with its long songs, pretentious lyrics, biblical references and stunning sleeve design. A few years later i started getting into Krautrock because of albums like this - listen the motorik beat that drives the songs and you'll see what I mean.

Impact Music #7: Selected Ambient Works Volume ll

Selected Ambient Works Volume ll by Aphex Twin.

This, or his debut? His debut or this? Tough call and they both tower above most music made during that time. Certainly electronic music would be a much duller place without them - after this album people even started calling him the Mozart of electronic music.

SAWll was not what I expected, but it turned out to be everything that I wanted. An intimidating 2¾ hour long triple album of beatless music, Richard D James came good on the "ambient" promise of his debut in style. This isn't ambient music to be played as part of the background, this is music that demands your attention and creates its own ambience. Listened to in one go can leave you quite disorientated when you try to reconnect with the real world, but it also has some of the most beautiful melodies known to mankind that will have you close to tears. Or is that just me? 

I don't think i listened to music in the same way after this.

PS Some people will think this album is quite dull.

Impact Music #6: Giant Steps

Giant Steps by The Boo Radleys

Once upon a time The Boo Radleys were just another noisy indie band that I put in the "not bad" category. Then in 1993 they sprung this sprawling masterpiece of a double album on the world.

It's the album that is influenced by everything, but sounds like nothing else. It made total sense even though it shouldn't have. I love it all and twenty seven years on, the moment where, just as you think the album might be winding down, THAT brass riff kicks in at the start of Lazarus still stops me in my tracks.

It should have been massive, but it didn't sell so Martin Carr allegedly wrote Wake Up Boo to make a point that the band COULD have a hit single if they tried. They did and it resulted in a lot of people knowing and hating them for that one song. The irony is that the feelgood hit of the summer was under the surface an incredibly melancholy one.